Bottle filling and crowning machine



Dec. 26, 1933. Jbw FLOWER 1,941,168

BOTTLE FILLING AND CROWNING MACHINE Filed May 25, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 1FTE Dec.-26, 1933. J. w. FLOWER 1,941,168

BOTTLE FILLING AND CROWNING MACHINE Filed May 26, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2Dec. 26, 1933. J. w. FLOWER BOTTLE FILLING AND CROWNING MACHINE FiledMay 26, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet O www fae Dec. 26 1933. J. w. FLOWER1,941,168

BOTTLE FILLING AND CROWNING MACHINE Filed May 26, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4dA/fz'ah ls Patented Dec. 26, 1933 PATENT OFFICE v BOTTLE FILLING ANDCROWNIN G MACHINE John Walter Flower, Wimborne, England Application May26, 1930,Serial No. 455,774, and in Great Britain May 30, 1929 4 Claims.,(01. 22698) This invention relates to rotary. counter pressure bottlefilling machines and the filling and crowning heads therefor.

The primary object of the inventionis the pro '5 vision in a machine ofthe above type of a liquid discharge outlet that directs the liquid inradial manner; Thus the liquid falls against and gravi tates down theinner side, of a bottle into which the outlet isintroduc'ed. By thismeans fobbing of the liquid and consequent lossof gas, usually CO2,contained in the liquid is reduced to a minimum. Further, the tube orconduit in which the discharge outlet is needs to. extend into thebottle only a short distance and the stroke'of the bottle to and fromthe head before and after filling may be of correspondingly shortlength.

l A crowning head or heads are incorporated with the filling head orheads so that the crown ing operation can be performed easily and quick-1y after the filling. The crowning heads may be in accordance with myco-pending application forLetters Patent Serial No. 456,641, filed May28, 1930. the crowning heads slidably on or with respect to the fillingheads so that the said crowning heads can be placed over and inalignment with filled .bottles for crowning and thereafter retracted. 1

According to one method of carrying my invention into effect I provide afilling cock rotatably mounted in the filling and crowning head. Drilledin the filling and crowning head are two passages connected respectivelytothe counter pressure gas and to the liquid supply, and a third passagefor the return of counter pressure gas from the bottles, say to the topof the liquid supply chamber. g The body of the cock is so apertured andbored and communicates with the said passages and with the bottlefilling tube or conduit which extends downwardlyfrom the filling andcrowning. head that, with a bottle positioned below the filling tube, acertain sequence of filling operationsjiseifected upon rotation of the'cock. The'filling cock is preferably provided with an operating head orv key having six equally spaced arms and the ports in the filling cockare advantageously so arranged that two bottles are filled perrevolutionof the filling. cock. j g

The filling tube is provided with an inner or gas tube, the annularspace between these two tubes forming theliquid inlet and being incommunication with the filling cock. The lower end ofthe gas tube isprovided with the radial discharge outlet in the form of an outwardlypro- This application includes mounting 'jecting annular shoulder orequivalent" with the filling tube (outer tube) terminating a littleabove this shoulder so that liquid passing down the annular space isdeflected outwardly, i. e. radially, when it reaches the shoulder.

A cushion or packing surrounds the outer tube near the top thereof andprior to the filling operation the bottle is pressed up against thispack ing with the two concentric tubes extending down a short distanceinto the bottle neck.

The machine is suitable for filling beers, etc. into bottles, and mayalso be used for mineral waters with the addition of a suitable syrupingdevice where necessary. The machine is however suitable for filling allkinds of liquids whether carbonated or still and the filling device maybe used separately or in conjunction with other corking means. 7 Y

A rotary filling and crowning'machine with a counter pressure liquidfeed in accordance with the invention is illustrated by way of examplein the accompanying drawings in which:-

Fig. 1 isa front elevation of the machine with some of theparts-omitted.

-Fig. 2,is a part plan view of the machine shown in Fig. 1. v

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on an enlarged scale primarily of one ofthe filling and crowning heads.

Fig. 4 is a front view of the said head and v Fig. 5 is a plan viewthereof. I a

a Fig. 6 shows four sectionsof the plug in Fig. 3 taken on diflerentplanes.

Fig. '7 is a vertical section through part of the lower end of themachine, more particularly through the oil container and a cylinder andits inlet and relief valves.

Fig. 8 is a vertical section of part of the liquid feed pan-and I Fig. 9is a detail in connection with an automatic declutching mechanism.

in the example according to the drawings the filling heads 1 are carriedby arms 2 projecting radially from the underside. of a feed pan 3mounted on a flange 4 at the upper end of a sleeve 5. The sleeve extendsdownwardly into an oil container 6 at the lower part of the machine andits end is co-axially fixed to a worm wheel '7. The worm wheel carries anumber of hydraulic cylinders such as 8 received by bores 9 spacedaround it and each bore and hence .each cylinder is aligned with one ofthe heads 1. A further support for the cylinders 8 is provided by acover plate 10 fixed to a flange 5' on the sleeve 5. A

worm 11 supported by the wall 6' of the container 6 and driven from asuitable clutch rotates the wheel '7 and thus the cylinders, sleeve, andheads, etc. on top and bottom bearings 12 and 13 carried on a verticalshaft or column 14 fixed centrally of the bed plate 15.

The bottles to be filled and crowned are placed on a conveyor 16 whencethey are transferred to stirrups 17 by a star wheel 13 driven by thestirrups engaging with rollers 19 on the underside of the said wheel.This manner of driving the wheel ensures that the bottles pass into thestirrups without fouling the sides thereof. In order to prevent bottlesjamming between the points of the star wheel and a guide rail 20 abell-crank lever 21 is pivoted on the conveyor table 22. The rollers 19rock the lever as they pass its free end so as to turn the rubber-paddedend of a lever 23 into the path of the bottles and check the leadingbottles one by one until such time asthey become correctly spaced withrespect to the star wheel points. The levers 2i and 23 are movablyconnected together by a rod 24 and the parts are returned to theposition shown by a suitably arranged spring.

As each stirrup passes the bottle-receiving p0- siticn the rams 25 onthe upper ends of which the stirrups are mounted are forced upwardly dueto the hydraulic pressure produced in the cylinders 8 when pistons suchas 26 on which rollers 27 are arranged are forced within the cylinderdue to a rise in the cam track 28 as set out in my copending applicationSerial No. 456,232, filed May 2'7, 1930.

This upward movement introduces a liquid filling tube 29 and a gas tube30 co-axial therewith in the head 1 into the neck of the bottle, andpresses the mouth of the bottle against an indiarubber sealing pad 31.The gas tube is sur rounded by the filling tube in spaced relation so asto provide an annular passage 32 and the lower end of the tube 30 isshouldered at 33 whilst the end of the tube 29 is spaced from theshoulder and thereby provides an annular outlet with the shoulder 33 atthe bottom thereof.

The head has a plug 34 on the stem of which is a six point star wheel 35and as the head continues its travel the point in position 36 (Fig. 4)strikes a plunger 3'? fixed on the machine and turns the plug through60. Upon the initial part of this turn the tube 36 and the passageareconnected with a snift hole 38 in the valve body and opening toatmosphere, by way of the lower parts of gas and liquid ducts 39 and 4cre spectively in the valve body and a channel in the surface of the plug34, thus any liquid left in the tube and the passage 32 from apreviousfilling runs into the bottle. The inner tube 30 then opened tothe gas under pressure in the pan 3 by way of a passage 42 in the plug,a passage 43 in the head and arm 2, and a tube 44 with its mouth in thegas at the top of the pan,

whilst. the annular space remains in communication with the hole 38 dueto communication with 41. The gas under pressure thus fills the bottleand exhausts the stale air and gases the bottle may contain through thehole 38 which may, if desired, be controlled by a needle valve (notshown) to prevent the too rapid exhaus 'ng of the bottle and wastefuloutflow of the pres 1.. gas. 7 The final part of the first 60 turncompletely isolates the bottle from atmosphere and keeps the said bottlein communication with the gas under pressure which continues to flowinto it until such time as the pressures within the bottle and pan arebalanced.

complete emptying of a gas return passage 4'7,

since any liquid left in this passage from a previousfilling willinterfere with or. even prevent the filling of the succeeding bottles.Continued turning of the plug moves the channel 46 clear of .38 and 40so as to seal the bottle from atmosphere, whilst a groove 48 in theperiphery of the plug connects the lower part of 39 to the gas returntube 47 and due to the pressure in the bottle having been made lowerthan that in the pan a sharp down or back fiow of the gas occurs andefiectively empties the tube 47. Near the end of the said second 60 turnof the plug a diametral duct 49 connects the upper and lower parts ofthe duct 40 and a flow of liquid from a passage 50 in the arm 2 andvalve body takes place and enters the bottle by way of the annular space32 and the annular discharge outlet from which the liquid dischargesradially due to the shoulder 33 and downwardly so as to gravitate downthe sides of the bottle and not fob, the displaced gas returning to thetop of the pan by way of the tube 30 and a conduit provided by 39, 48and 47 and a tube 47 which opens into the top of the pan.

The machine continuesits travel whilst the bottle is filling and finallythe star wheel point 51, now in the position initially occupied by 36strikes a plunger 37 which turns the plug another so that the gas andliquid supplies tothe bottle are discontinued and the plug is set forthe next filling.

The channels and ports in the plug are provided, except 49, induplicate, so that 180 turns of the plug complete the whole fillingoperations. The cam track 28 then allows the ramand bottle to drop underthe action of the spring 52 surrounding the ram when a crowning head 53is slid over the bottle. Then the ram rises again and forces the top ofthe bottle into the crowning head and after the crown is applied thesaid ram and bottle descend and the filled and crowned bottle is scoopedoff of the stirrup onto the table 22 by contact with a fence 54. Thebottles pile one behind the other between the fence and a guide rail 55and reach the conveyor which takes them to the endof the table.

The upward thrust of the rams during filling and crowning is taken by acircular beam or track 56 carried by four posts on the bed plate of themachine, the thrust being transmitted through tracking rollers 57, oneon each head.

The crowning heads are slid to and from the crowning position by ramps58 and 59 engaging rollers 60 on them which, together with the said I;

Y plungers 37 and wipes against them and presses them back againstsprings ontheir shanks so that the star 35 passes them without beingoperated. The sleeves 63 and the ears 62 are slidable on guide rods 66extending between the cover plate 10 and the heads 1. These rods preventthe stirrups' rotating about their axes.

In the event of a ram not descending completely it fouls the fence 54and rocks it. The shaft on which the fence is'rigidly mounted turns afinger 67 which acts through a connecting rod 68, an arm 69 fixed on avertical shaft '70, the said shaft, and an arm 71 on the shaft and witha projection 71 on it, to rock'a trip '72 and cause the end 73 of a bellcrank weighted at '74 to drop and, by a connection from the end '75 ofthe bell crank, disengage the. clutch, not shown, by which the worm 11is driven.

If one of the bottles is broken during filling, sayv due to thecounterpressure, a rush and loss into atmosphere ofliquid and gas isprevented by check valves 76 and '77. The liquid and gas are fed to thepan through a gland 78. The inner tube '79 conveys the liquid into thepan and is controlled as to delivery'by a float valve 80-81, whilst gasenters the top of the, pan by way of a tube 82 surrounding 79. Anadjustable snift valve 83 is provided in the pan.

The conveyor is driven by a suitable transmission from the shaft ofwheel 11. This transmis-, sion includes a friction clutch adapted toslip if a piece of broken glass or the like wedges between the conveyorand the left hand end of the slot, in the table, in which the conveyorruns. 4 Y

What I claim is:

1. In a counter pressure bottle fillingmachine, a plurality of fillingheads each with a counter pressure gas flow tube and a liquid passageadapted to discharge liquid radially into a bottle introduced to thehead, cooks for controlling the flow of counter pressure gas and liquid,hydraulic rams for introducing the bottles to the heads and for removingthem from the heads, cylinders for the rams, a worm wheel supporting andcircumscribing the cylinders, a connection between the wormwheel andheads, and means for rotating the worm wheel and hence the'connectionand the heads.

'2. In a counter pressure bottle filling machine, a plurality of fillingheads each with a counter pressure gas flow tube and a liquid tubedefining with the gastube' a liquid passage adapted to discharge liquidinto a bottle introduced to the heads, the discharge ends of the gastube and liquidtube being relatively formed to compel a radial.discharge of the liquid, cocks on the heads and star wheels on thecooks adapted to operate the cooks in steps for controlling the counterpressure gas flow and the liquid flow with respect to the bottlesintroduced to the head, means in' v eluding hydraulic rams, and-a camtrack for controlling said rams for introducing the bottles to the headand for removing them therefrom, and means for rotating the headsandbottles.

3. A counter pressure bottle filling machine comprising ,a counterpressure feed pan, filling heads rigidly connected to the pan, each headhaving a counter pressure gas flow tube and a liquid passage adapted todischarge liquid radially into a bottle introduced to the head, andhaving a tracking roller, a track above the rollers,v

and cocks for controlling the flow of counter pressure gas and the flowof liquid between the pan and heads, hydraulic rams being aligned be-'neath the heads, cylinders for the rains, a worm wheel carrying andcircumscribing the cylinders,

a sleeve rigidly connecting the worm wheel and having a counter pressuregas flow tube and a liquid passage adapted to discharge liquid radiallyinto a bottle introduced to the head, and having a tracking roller, atrack above the rollers, and-cocks for controlling the flow of counterpressure gas and the fiow of liquid between the pan and heads, hydraulicrams being aligned beneath the heads,'cylinders for the rams, a wormwheel in driving relation to the cylinders, a sleeve rigidly connectingthe cylinders and worm wheel with the pan, a vertical standard disposedaxially of the sleeve with top and bottom bearings on which the sleeve,worm wheel and cylinders rotate, and means for rotating the said wormwheel,

JOHN WALTER FLOWER.

